NMR hole‐burning: A study of slow molecular rotations in glassy glycerol

Magnesium(II)‐ATP Complexes in 1‐Ethyl‐3‐Methylimidazolium Acetate Solutions Characterized by 31 Mg β‐Radiation‐Detected NMR Spectroscopy

The complexation of Mg^II with adenosine 5′‐triphosphate (ATP) is omnipresent in biochemical energy conversion, but is difficult to interrogate directly. Here we use the spin‐1/2 β‐emitter ³¹Mg to study Mg^II‐ATP complexation in 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium acetate (EMIM‐Ac) solutions using β‐radiation‐detected nuclear magnetic resonance (β‐NMR). We demonstrate that (nuclear) spin‐polarized ³¹Mg, following ion‐implantation from an accelerator beamline into EMIM‐Ac, binds to ATP within its radioactive lifetime before depolarizing. The evolution of the spectra with solute concentration indicates that the implanted ³¹Mg initially bind to the solvent acetate anions, whereafter they undergo dynamic exchange and form either a mono‐ (³¹Mg‐ATP) or di‐nuclear (³¹MgMg‐ATP) complex. The chemical shift of ³¹Mg‐ATP is observed up‐field of ³¹MgMg‐ATP, in accord with quantum chemical calculations. These observations constitute a crucial advance towards using β‐NMR to probe chemistry and biochemistry in solution.

Blind spheres of paramagnetic dopants in solid state NMR

Solid-state NMR on paramagnetically doped crystal structures gives information about the spatial distribution of dopants in the host. Paramagnetic dopants may render NMR active nuclei virtually invisible by relaxation, paramagnetic broadening or shielding. In this contribution blind sphere radii r0 have been reported, which could be extracted through fitting the NMR signal visibility function f(x) = exp(-ar03x) to experimental data obtained on several model compound series: La1-xLnxPO4 (Ln = Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb), Sr1-xEuxGa2S4 and (Zn1-xMnx)3(PO4)2·4H2O. Radii were extracted for 1H, 31P and 71Ga, and dopants like Nd3+, Gd3+, Dy3+, Ho3+, Er3+, Tm3+, Yb3+ and Mn2+. The observed radii determined differed in all cases and covered a range from 5.5 to 13.5 Å. While these radii were obtained from the amount of invisible NMR signal, we also show how to link the visibility function to lineshape parameters. We show under which conditions empirical correlations of linewidth and doping concentration can be used to extract blind sphere radii from second moment or linewidth parameter data. From the second moment analysis of La1-xSmxPO431P MAS NMR spectra for example, a blind sphere size of Sm3+ can be determined, even though the visibility function remains close to 100% over the entire doping range. Dependence of the blind sphere radius r0 on the NMR isotope and on the paramagnetic dopant could be suggested and verified: for different nuclei, r0 shows a -dependence, γ being the gyromagnetic ratio. The blind sphere radii r0 for different paramagnetic dopants in a lanthanide series could be predicted from the pseudo-contact term.

Slow Dielectric Relaxation of Supercooled Liqutos Investigated by Nonresonant Spectral Hole Burning

When supercooled propylene carbonate and glycerol are subjected to a large-amplitude, low-frequency electric field, a spectral hole develops in their dielectric relaxation that is significantly narrower than their bulk response. This observation of nonresonant spectral hole burning establishes that the non-Debye response is due to a distribution of relaxation times. Refilling of the spectral hole occurs abruptly, indicative of a single recovery rate that corresponds to the peak in the distribution. The general shape of the spectral hole is preserved during recovery, indicating negligible interaction between the degrees of freedom that responded to the field. All relevant features in the behavior can be characterized by a model for independently relaxing domains that are selectively heated by the large oscillation, and which recover via connection to a common thermal bath, with no direct coupling between the domains.

T2 relaxation measurement with solvent suppression and implications to solvent suppression in general

A number of suppression pulse sequences including Excitation Sculpting and WATERGATE were incorporated into the standard Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) program for T(2) measurement and experimentally evaluated. The chosen suppression schemes were of varying complexity encompassing pulse program elements, such as presaturation, gradients, and selective pulses, which are typically utilized for solvent suppression. The quality of the spectral data and the accuracy of T(2) measurements of the investigated suppression schemes were evaluated using three aqueous samples with increasing proton content in the water solvent, i.e. by volume 100% D(2)O, 80/20% D(2)O/H(2)O, and 20/80% D(2)O/H(2)O. For signals removed from the water signal, the T(2) values were generally very consistent between all pulse sequences tested. T(2) measurements can be unreliable for signals too close to the water signal such that they are significantly suppressed as well. Their intensity may actually grow initially through cross relaxation that transfers magnetization back to the solute signal. In turn, this relaxation phenomenon can be exploited to improve the spectral quality of conventional solvent suppression schemes. In favorable cases, even signals that are completely masked by the water signal can be recovered by adding a carefully chosen number of spin echoes with optimized evolution time to conventional water suppression pulse programs, such as Excitation Sculpting or WATERGATE.

Hole-burning NMR in strongly inhomogeneous fields

Different pulse sequences for frequency-selective NMR in the highly inhomogeneous fields of single-sided NMR are explored. A modified Hahn-echo is used to burn a hole in the spectrum of the detected echo. The hole diminishes following molecular dynamics on the scale of the echo time. Preliminary experiments were performed on pure water and natural rubber with the NMR-MOUSE. The results demonstrate the feasibility of hole burning to study slow molecular dynamics by mobile NMR in strongly inhomogeneous magnetic fields.

Restricted orientational motion of nitroxides in molecular glasses: Direct estimation of the motional time scale basing on the comparative study of primary and stimulated electron spin echo decays

A comparative study of anisotropic relaxation in two-pulse primary and three-pulse stimulated electron spin echo decays provides a direct way to distinguish fast (correlation time tau(c)<10(-6) s) and slow (tau(c)>10(-6) s) motions. Anisotropic relaxation is detected as a difference of the decay rates for different resonance field positions in anisotropic electron paramagnetic resonance spectra. For fast motion anisotropic relaxation influences the primary echo decay and does not influence the stimulated echo decay. For slow motion it is seen in both two-pulse echo and three-pulse stimulated echo decays. For nitroxide spin probes dissolved in glassy glycerol only fast motion was found below 200 K. Increase of temperature above 200 K results in the appearance of slow motion. Its amplitude increases rapidly with temperature increase. While in glycerol glass slow motion appears above glass transition temperature T(g), in ethanol glass it is observable below T(g). The scenario of motional dynamics in glasses is proposed which involves the broadening of the correlation time distribution with increasing temperature.

The presence of long-lived spin states in organic solids with rapid molecular motions

For organic solids with sufficiently mobile molecular segments, the application of a long and weak pulse (gammaB1/2pi approximately Hz) can yield inverted sharp peaks with linewidths of approximately 100 Hz in the 1H NMR spectra, and the use of multi-frequency weak pulses can excite multiple inverted sharp peaks. For these compounds, the normal 1H free induction decay (FID) of a static sample contains a slowly decaying part, which can be detected by acquisition delay up to about 2 ms. The presence of highly mobile molecular segments can also be identified by using a "dipolar filter."

Selective excitation in spin systems with homogeneous broadening

We have found that the application of a weak radio frequency (rf) pulse to a spin system with indirect spin-spin (J) couplings can produce a narrow inverted peak in spectral regions where there are many overlapping peaks. Examples of three compounds with (1)H-(1)H J couplings and one with (1)H-(13)C J couplings are given. The dependences of the signals on the frequency, duration, and amplitude of the weak rf irradiation have been studied. For an rf power of gammaB(1)/2pi=1.0 Hz, pulse widths longer than 0.25 s consistently produce inverted narrow peaks in spectral regions with unresolved peaks. An interpretation of the origin of this unusual result of selective excitation in spin systems with homogeneous broadening is given: the inverted signal observed can be considered as a cumulative effect of the weak rf irradiation acting on many uncorrelated transitions that are slightly off resonance on both sides of the irradiating frequency; the only role of the J couplings (or dipolar couplings in liquid crystals) is to produce a large number of closely spaced peaks that overlap with each other. Computer simulations of both coupled and noninteracting spin systems have been carried out, and the results support this interpretation.

Hole-burning diffusion measurements in high magnetic field gradients

We describe methods for the measurement of translational diffusion in very large static magnetic field gradients by NMR. The techniques use a "hole-burning" sequence that, with the use of fringe field gradients of 42 T/m, can image diffusion along one dimension on a submicron scale. Two varieties of this method are demonstrated, including a particularly efficient mode called the "hole-comb," in which multiple diffusion times comprising an entire diffusive evolution can be measured within the span of a single detected slice. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed, as well as their potential for addressing non-Fickian diffusion, diffusion in restricted media, and spatially inhomogeneous diffusion.

Sensitivity of Saturation Transfer Electron Spin Resonance Extended to Extremely Slow Mobility in Glassy Materials

A novel extension of the saturation transfer (ST) ESR technique that enables the determination of extremely long rotational correlation times of nitroxide spin labels up to values around 10(4) s is proposed. The method is based on the observation that the integral of ST-ESR spectra is sensitive to the spin-lattice relaxation time of the electron of the spin label, which in turn is directly dependent upon the rotational correlation time. The method is applied to the spin label TEMPOL (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl) in glycerol. From the known viscosity data and the related rotational correlation times of the TEMPOL spin label in glycerol, the rotational correlation times of unknown samples can be determined. The method is especially applicable to systems with a very high viscosity, such as glassy materials. The method is applied to a 20 wt% glucose-water mixture in the glassy state, giving a value for the highest limiting rotational correlation time of about 10(3) s at a temperature of 45 K below the glass transition temperature of this system. This is an extension by six decades for the rotational correlation time, as compared to the current application of ST-ESR. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Selective inversion investigations of slow molecular motion in solid state deuteron NMR spectroscopy

Deuteron selective inversion experiments are reported for polycrystalline dimethyl sulfone-d6 as a function of temperature from 288 to 333 K. Double side-band modulation was used to achieve efficient off-resonance orientation-selective inversion. Fitting the selective inversion-recovery curves to two-site jump equations yields the motional rate. Temperature dependent jump rates, obtained from both selective inversion and deuteron quadrupole echo lineshapes, give an activation energy Ea = 86.5 +/- 1.4 kJ mol-1 and a frequency factor In(A) = 39.2 +/- 0.5. These values differ significantly from those of earlier 13C lineshape studies. At 298 K, variable power excitation was used to determine the underlying orientation dependent homogeneous linewidth, which is predominantly dipolar. The temperature dependence of the homogeneous linewidth is a sensitive indicator of large angle jump motion in the range 10(3)-10(4) s-1.

Rebinding and relaxation in the myoglobin pocket

The infrared stretching bands of carboxymyoglobin (MbCO) and the rebinding of CO to Mb after photodissociation have been studied in the temperature range 10-300 K in a variety of solvents. Four stretching bands imply that MbCO can exist in four substates, A0-A3. The temperature dependences of the intensities of the four bands yield the relative binding enthalpies and and entropies. The integrated absorbances and pH dependences of the bands permit identification of the substates with the conformations observed in the X-ray data (Kuriyan et al., J. Mol. Biol. 192 (1986) 133). At low pH, A0 is hydrogen-bonded to His E7. The substates A0-A3 interconvert above about 180 K in a 75% glycerol/water solvent and above 270 K in buffered water. No major interconversion is seen at any temperature if MbCO is embedded in a solid polyvinyl alcohol matrix. The dependence of the transition on solvent characteristics is explained as a slaved glass transition. After photodissociation at low temperature the CO is in the heme pocket B. The resulting CO stretching bands which are identified as B substates are blue-shifted from those of the A substates. At 40 K, rebinding after flash photolysis has been studied in the Soret, the near-infrared, and the integrated A and B substates. All data lie on the same rebinding curve and demonstrate that rebinding is nonexponential in time from at least 100 ns to 100 ks. No evidence for discrete exponentials is found. Flash photolysis with monitoring in the infrared region shows four different pathways within the pocket B to the bound substates Ai. Rebinding in each of the four pathways B----A is nonexponential in time to at least 10 ks and the four pathways have different kinetics below 180 K. From the time and temperature dependence of the rebinding, activation enthalpy distributions g(HBA) and preexponentials ABA are extracted. No pumping from one A substate to another, or one B substate to another, is observed below the transition temperature of about 180 K. If MbCO is exposed to intense white light for 10-10(3) s before being fully photolyzed by a laser flash, the amplitude of the long-lived states increases. The effect is explained in terms of a hierarchy of substates and substate symmetry breaking. The characteristics of the CO stretching bands and of the rebinding processes in the heme pocket depend strongly on the external parameters of solvent, pH and pressure. This sensitivity suggests possible control mechanisms for protein reactions.